


Casual Observers: The Older Brother's Best Friend

by Browneyesparker



Series: Casual Observers [7]
Category: Girl Meets World
Genre: F/M, Family, Friendship, Gen, Old Friends, Romance, girl meets world - Freeform, joshaya
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-15
Updated: 2015-09-15
Packaged: 2018-04-20 20:47:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4801721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Browneyesparker/pseuds/Browneyesparker
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shawn Hunter had been gone for a very, very long time. Somehow, Josh Matthews had grown up while he had been gone. He was easily the best looking Matthews brother, with easy charm and a smile that would make any girl go weak in the knees.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Casual Observers: The Older Brother's Best Friend

**Author's Note:**

> A special thanks to hoffkk, who not only took the time to read all my stories in this series but actually took the time to write a very sweet post about it on tumblr too.

**.**

**Chapter 7**

_The Older Brother’s Best Friend_

Shawn Hunter had been gone for a very, very long time.

Somehow, Josh Matthews had grown up while he had been gone. He was easily the best looking Matthews brother, with easy charm and a smile that would make any girl go weak in the knees.

Shawn was sure girls were falling all over themselves just to go out on a date with him. But if the way Josh and the pint-sized blonde girl were looking at each other was anything to go by, they probably didn’t have much luck snagging him. He was clearly very smitten with his niece’s best friend.

He made a mental note to ask Cory how long _that_ had been going on.

**.**

“It’s been going on since forever,” Cory answered a couple weeks later when they’d all gone to Upstate New York together.

“ _Forever_ , Cor?” Shawn asked, raising a skeptical eyebrow. “ _Forever_ has to be a stretch.”

Cory rolled his eyes. “Okay, so it’s been going on since they met a few years ago when we brought Maya with us to Philly for the summer. It might as well be _forever_ , Shawnie.”

“Oh lord, it’s like you and Topanga all over again!” Shawn said, taking a sip of his black coffee.

“Hardly!” Cory scoffed. “Topanga and I met before we were born, Shawn.”

“Here we go again.”

“Maya and Josh have a few more years on us,” Cory continued like he hadn’t said anything at all. “And another thing is, Josh is three years older than Maya. Topanga and I are the same age. There is no way that they’re like me and Topanga.”

“Fact, when a Matthews boy falls, they fall forever,” Shawn answered.

“Except for Eric,” Cory reminded him.

“I bet if Rachel would have let him, he would have fallen hard for her,” Shawn said, having an answer prepared for everything Cory would throw at him. He was in the mood to talk back and he was sure his best friend was used to it, given his chosen profession.

“Fact. they’re better off as friends. And don’t change the subject, I thought you wanted to talk about Maya and Josh.”

“They like each other?”

“It’s like major league stuff,” Cory answered gleefully. “Except the age difference is probably going to become a huge deal but they’ll both get over it eventually and everything will be back on track.”

Shawn looked over at Josh and Maya who were stealing glances at each other when they didn’t think the other one was looking. When they caught each other’s eyes, they looked away from each other as they blushed.

He wondered how long they would be _off track_ before they’d be back on track. He would bet all of the money in his bank account that it wouldn’t be too long before they were something more pretending to just be friends.

**.**

“Do you think _he’ll_ notice the difference?” Shawn overheard Maya ask Riley a little while after they had gone shopping for her new wardrobe.

“Who’s _he’ll_?” Riley replied before bursting into giggles, like her question was hysterical.

“Come on Riles! You know who I mean!” Maya answered. “Do you think _Josh_ is going to notice the difference?”

“I don’t want to think about it!” Riley said, giggling a little bit. “Even though I bet he totally will! I don’t think he’ll be able to take his eyes off of you. You really do look lovely, Maya.”

Shawn wished he would be able to see Josh’s reaction to Maya’s new look. But he was off on an assignment soon and he didn’t know when he was going to be back. His schedule was pretty full for the next few months, he was pretty much going to be stuck in Europe. It wouldn’t have bothered him before.

But now he was reconnecting with Cory and Topanga and their kids. He had a surrogate daughter of sorts and a crush on her mother. For the first time in forever, he wanted to stay put. He wanted to see what Life had to offer him in New York. It had to be more than anything traveling around Europe for his job had to offer.

He also knew if any of it was meant to be, it would all still be waiting for him when he got back from Europe.

And the saga of Josh & Maya wasn’t really any of his business. They had a million other people overseeing it and he knew if he asked, Cory would keep him updated with novel length emails about what was going on between the younger pair.

**.**

 

When he came back from Europe three months later, one of the first things he did was go to Cory and Topanga’s apartment because they were giving him a welcome home meal. He was excited to be home, to see everybody again.

Cory’s descriptive emails had been a nice way to keep updated on things on the homefront. But he was still thankful to be able to see things firsthand again, to see Katy face-to-face because absence had made the heart grow a little bit fonder and he wanted to see if there was anything there.

If she could be the one.

He wanted to see Josh and Maya in person and not just on a screen. He trusted Cory’s word on what was going on but it was still different getting to see what everybody else got to see in person.

If only he would be so lucky.

When he stepped out of the taxi late that afternoon, it was like fate was on his side. Standing on the porch steps in the milky twilight with a jazzy saxophone playing on the street corner were Maya and Josh.

She was a mini Grace Kelly in a golden cocktail dress and white heels and he was a sort of Cary Grant in jeans and a sports jacket and red Chucks. They were standing a little too close and chatting earnestly, not ever looking away from each other. It was like a still from a movie.

Shawn lifted his camera and snapped a picture of the two of them. The moment, their look, it was too perfect not to capture on camera for as long as they both should live.

After he had taken their picture, he cleared his throat to alert them to their presence. They both turned around at the same time and looked at him

Josh grinned, oblivious to being caught as he hopped off the steps, taking Maya with him. Shawn hugged them both at the same time, smirking slightly as they both got tangled up together in his arms.

“How’s it going?” He asked.

“Good!” Josh and Maya chorused together.

If he was younger, he would have asked them if they were together yet and teased them mercilessly despite what they had answered. But he wasn’t in high school anymore and even though he could still make jokes at their expense, he knew that Cory wouldn’t be thrilled if he found out about it.

Cory wanted everybody to wait for and not rush them into anything or push them away from each other.

So, Shawn didn’t say anything to anybody. But he did frame their picture and give them each a copy for Christmas that year.

He felt a little bit of a thrill when he saw them each do a double-take, shocked that a private moment between them had been captured. It seemed like they didn’t know anybody had glimpses of their shared moments.

“Oh come on!” Auggie said. “It isn’t like we don’t know what’s going on between the two of you. Do you think we’re stupid!?”

Cory looked panicked. “Auggie! Josh and Maya are only _friends_.”

 

Shawn hid a smirk as his harried best friend tried to shut his youngest up while Josh and Maya sheepishly avoided each other’s gazes.

Later on, when everybody else was busy making dinner, Josh and Maya snuck away. Shawn followed them because he was insanely curious like everybody else in the family was to see what happened next.

“Auggie’s just a silly kid,” Maya told him in a low voice. “You know that, right?”

“So there isn’t anything going on between us then?” Josh teased, his voice was equally as low.

“We’re just friends right now, right? I’m still too young for you.”

“Yes,” Josh agreed. “But we still have an understanding, right?”

“Of course we do,” Maya answered. “I don’t think my feelings for you are ever going to go away, Josh.”

“Good. Now, I have something for you. I didn’t want to give it to you in front of everybody else though,” Josh said.

That was when Shawn left because he knew he would truly be intruding on their moment if he stayed and watched them any longer. Josh had waited until they had privacy for a reason and he was going to respect that.

**.**

Shawn collected pictures of Josh and Maya and put them away for their someday. For someday when they were ready to admit what they really were to each other. For someday when they could be more than friends. He kept them to himself, collecting them in a large photo album for a time when the two of them would be ready to actually admit what had been going on between them their whole entire lives.

**.**

One of his favorite photographs was one that he had taken of the two of them in the Cape Cod. Shawn had snapped a picture of Josh as he had pulled Maya towards the ocean by the holes of her sweater, threatening to throw her into the water as she protested through fits of giggles. Josh was chuckling too as they spun each other around the beach. Josh had finally grabbed Maya by the waist, causing her to kick at the air, her limbs failing everywhere.

It had ended with them both flat on their backs in the sand in a fit of laughter as they struggled to help each other up.

There had been a series of pictures that particular afternoon, all in tones of black & white. He could have used them in his travel magazine and people would have fallen in love with the young friends and with the location as well.

But when he mentioned it to Cory, he told him that it would be a bad idea because if they saw it, they would probably react the way they had that Christmas he had given them the framed pictures.

Shawn knew he was right.

He didn’t want to create two scared versions of himself and Katie.

So, he left it alone.

**.**

Maya’s 18th birthday came and passed and Shawn expected them to get together soon afterwards, he was fully prepared to pull Josh aside and give him a carefully crafted speech, filling the roll as her father.

But days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months, and pretty soon Maya had been 18 for 11 months without a hint of their getting together. And nobody was stepping in to do anything about it.

Cory, Riley, Lucas and Farkle had tried back in the spring at the senior prom to get them together but their plan had failed and they had left it alone after that, saying they would get together when they got together.

If it ever happened.

Shawn was watching them watch the New Year’s Eve special on ABC, wondering _what_ it was going to take for them to get together officially.

And then it all happened in a blink of an eye. They were counting down to the New Year and everybody was kissing, including the two of them because it was better to do it than feel left out.

The kiss lasted longer than anybody else’s did.

When they broke apart, they both retreated to opposite ends of the house as quickly as they could. Cory followed his brother, Riley followed Maya. While everybody else waited to see what would happen next, the tension of not knowing how this particular chapter ended was so thick, Shawn could feel it coming from everybody in the room.

Ava and Auggie chatted amongst themselves. Shawn could hear snatches of their whispered conversation. They were the most certain everything was going to end the way it should by the end of the night and forever afterwards.

Shawn hoped for Maya and Josh’s sake this was the case.

He still had residue doubt leftover from when he was younger though and now that things were probably going to work out for the best, he couldn’t help but think of all the things that could go wrong.

**.**

Except things didn’t go wrong.

Not for Josh and Maya.

They fell into a happily ever after quickly and easily, they rarely ever argued. And when they did, it was just about what movie they would go to on Friday night. One day, they were going to ruin what relationships looked like for other people, quite like Cory and Topanga had when they had all been growing up. Even though Cory still insisted Josh and Maya were their own story.

But not many couples even started out the way Josh and Maya had. As friends, knowing someday when the timing was right, they were going to get together and get a real life version of the fairy tale ending that was as old as time.

**.**

They were engaged exactly one year later. Josh came to Shawn and sought his blessing to ask Maya to marry him, because she was the only father figure that she had ever known. Shawn was more than happy to give it to him, especially after he found out Katy was okay with it too.

He knew he would treat her the way she deserved to be treated. He had already proved that to be true on countless occasions.

**.**

He photographed their wedding.

He’d already been taking pictures of them for years, photographing their wedding was the cherry on top of it all. His favorite pictures to take out of all the ones he had ever taken of them.

It was on their wedding day, he finally gave them all the pictures he had ever taken of them. It was finally the right time and right place to do it.

 

**_The End_**

 

**.**

 

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry this took me so long to write. I’ve had a lot going on in my life and this took longer to write than I would have liked. Shawn is harder to write than I thought he would be! I outlined Eric’s story this past weekend, so I’m hoping that it’ll be a little easier if I know what I’m writing. Thank you for your patience, I hope you will tell me what you think. And again, just because “Shaty” didn’t happen in this chapter, doesn’t mean I am against it. They just aren’t the focus of the story. 
> 
> After Eric, I should write Allen’s POV and then I will get into the younger set of the cast. I am also thinking about adding Isadora to the lineup of observers. Let me know what you think and please DO NOT mention Lucas again! I’m definitely going to write this story from his POV just give it time. We’re going to get there.
> 
> Until Next Time!


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